Week 1: During the first lesson of our year 12 Research Project, Ms McInnes went over the steps of Resource Based Learning D.L.S.O.P.E and introduced us to Wikispaces and Ebscohost. In the double lesson we were added to her wikispace and made our own wikipages. Ms McInnes also showed us how to use the wonder wheel on the Google search engine to help us brainstorm smaller topics in a broad one.
On Thursday we went to the library to look at books with different topics to help us find a topic we were interested in. There were also pink and green booklets with recent newspaper articles to give us recent topics rather than choosing an old topic with little information. At the moment I am thinking about the topics:
Climate Change and Global Warming in Australia since there were floods in Queensland and Cyclone Yasi recently hit Townsville
Any topic relating to food
Week 2: During Monday's lesson we were to check out Ebscohost and write 5 summaries for 5 articles relating to the topic/s we were interested in and work on it during the week.
Climate Change is coming to your hip pocket: This article is about the Federal Government creating a one time tax for Australians earning a middle and high income not poor people and the victims of the floods. The tax is to raise $1.8 billion to support the re-building of roads, houses and schools in Queensland where the floods hit recently. This article also mentions the Government gathering $3.8 billion by cutting and postponing other programs and plans which would be donated to the rebuilding of the areas affected by the floods showing that Australians must help each other in time of need.
Wire, i 2011, 'Climate change is coming | to your hip-pocket', Canberra Times, 31 January, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 7 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=22&sid=8b48fd1a-edb4-4141-8c4a-5846de5dc733%40sessionmgr10&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=SYD-5Y5LGGOWQG4CH1UWKIT>
Fruit, Vegetables Prices Rocket- Flood Disaster 2011: As a result of the Queensland Floods, Australia would be experiencing high prioced of vegetables and fruit as Queensland supplies of of our fresh fruit and veggies. The damage of the floods damaged most of the crops causing prices of tomatoes, cauliflower, corn, capsicum and broccoli to rapidly increase and stay high for at least a month. Tomato prices have risen 267 percent while broccoli and cucumbers have increased over 100 percent since December 2010. With this it is expected that fresh food prices in Australia could still be affected in the short term affecting all of us.
JOE, K 2011, 'Fruit, vegetable prices rocket --- 2011 FLOOD DISASTER', Australian, The, p. 6, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 7 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=22&sid=8b48fd1a-edb4-4141-8c4a-5846de5dc733%40sessionmgr10&vid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=201101131006618849>
Floods, Yasi stamp their mark on 2011: The floodwaters killed 33 lives earlier this year. Just 3 weeks later there was a cyclone near Mission beach flattening crops, ripping houses apart and snapping power poles in half. The wind gusts were estimated to be 290km/hr. The last time a cyclone hit Brisbane was in 1918. Cyclone Yasi was the 3rd to hit Queensland this summer out of a predicted 6 which means there could be more heartache and worrying in the near future. The Government after having to gather $192,470,566 for the Disaster Relief Fund was still not enough for the flood victims let alone help the victims of Cyclone Yasi. This will mean more cuts in budgets from the government plans to help the flood and cyclone victims with no homes. This article was written right after the cyclone hit informing us on the damage and death rate from the devastating event.
'Floods, Yasi stamp their mark on 2011', n.d., New Zealand Herald, The, n.d., Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 9 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=9&sid=dfbaeb03-d061-43ab-a1f6-274fd0da6991%40sessionmgr4&vid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=HOB089862307111>
Schools remain closed after Cyclone Yasi: It can be considered lucky to some but not to others that 260 schools and TAFE campuses are closed due to the aftermath of Cyclone Yasi destroying schools and trees which have fallen are making schools not accessible. This goes to shows the impact on people of all ages affected by natural disaters which are possibly caused by global warming and human activity.
'Schools remain closed after Cyclone Yasi' n.d., ABC Premium News, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 9 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=9&sid=dfbaeb03-d061-43ab-a1f6-274fd0da6991%40sessionmgr4&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=P6S241336950611>
Cyclone Yasi provides Northern Territory banana windfall: Banana growers in the Northern Territory are hoping to benefit from the losses of crops after Cyclone Yasi hit Queensland, the main sourcer of fresh fruit and vegetables in Australia. In the past Cyclone Larry caused a rise in prices of bananas again due to loss and destruction of crops. The growers of bananas in the NT are hoping the government won't ease the restrictions of imports from other countries while Queensland is still under repair or let imports from outside Australia replace the stocks lost in Cyclone Yasi. If bananas are imported from the Phillipines for example, it would cause a big problems to the whole industry and growers in Australia.
'Cyclone Yasi provides NT banana windfall' n.d., ABC Premium News, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 9 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=9&sid=dfbaeb03-d061-43ab-a1f6-274fd0da6991%40sessionmgr4&vid=7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=P6S206213428711 >
Week 3: During Monday's lesson Ms McInnes showed us the site Ergo which shows us the 5 steps of Research Skills : D.L.S.O.P.E. At the moment I am in the definig stage and after my Research Proposal due this week I hope to start on the locating stage and finding information on the topic 'Climate Change and how it is affecting Australia'. Another site she told us to use is <http://dclibrary.edu.glogster.com/evaluating-information/> using the CRAP system:
C= Currency
Is this news/topic recent?
Are there any other sources of information with news that are newer than on this website?
Does the information used in the article seem recent?
Are the statistics (if accessible) new and reliable? R= Reliability
Can I trust this website?
Is the author of this website/ article someone who can be trusted?
Does the information seem reliable?
Are there any advertismements on the page? (this will show whether the site is just trying to seel a product) A= Authority
Who is the author?
Is the author of the website someone who is a professional and is credited to give information?
How do I know that the author knows what they are writing?
Is there any form on information on the schooling of the author to show they are an expert?
and P= Purpose
Why was this website/ article written?
Is this information important to my research?
Why did the author write the article?
This is evaluating method would help me in deciding whether the resources and articles I use are suitable and recent in the news. Another site she introduced us to was called Credible Sources Count! which is another referencing check to see whether information from a particular place is reliable and not a hoax. During the rest of the week we were to work on our Research Proposal which would be submitted to inform Ms McInnes about my research topic, why I chose it, how I am going to go about researching (from where and who I am going to get my primary source of information from). So Ms McInnes also talked about the 5W's
who?
Who am I going to interview?
Who am I directing the information I collect to?
what?
What am I planning to do for the process of my Research?
In what ways am I going to collect my information?
when?
When am I planning to conduct my interview?
When will I start my research?
where?
Where am I going to go to get information for my Project?
Where am I going to go to conduct my interview?
Where am I planning to do my surveys? (online or pen to paper)
why?
Why did I choose to research this topic?
What made me want to research this topic more than other topics?
which was what we were going to use to write our Research Proposal.
First Research Proposal: My Research Proposal
WHAT?: The topic I have chosen to research about is ‘Climate Change and how it is affecting Australia’. There has been a lot of talk about the recent flood and cyclone in Queensland and I would like to research how these natural disasters have affected the victims as well as everyone else in Australia. WHY?: I chose this topic because in the news recently there has been many reports about cyclone and flood damage in the Eastern side of Australia including Queensland and Victoria and has got me thinking… ‘Is this the result of global warming and climate change?’. Thinking about it seriously there has been heat waves in the beginning of last year 2010 and dramatic changes in the weather all over Australia and even the world. There is a possibility that the extreme weather is caused by human activity and the problem could be at much larger scales in the near future. No one can predict the future 100% but to the places where natural disasters may happen there could be a way to reduce the damage to people living in there and may save lives by warning citizens before the damage is done. The other night I was watching the television show '60 minutes' and there was a story about a young family who lived in Queensland where the floods hit and because no one warned them of the flood they lost their 28 month old daughter and their grandma and grandmother. This shows that a little warning can really saves lives. The report touched me and I hope to research why only the town people in the part of Queensland were warned about the floods and evacuated while others living outside of town were left not knowing what was coming. WHO?: My research would be aimed at practically everyone in Australia since the weather affects everyone young and old. HOW? & WHERE?: For my research I am hoping to gain contact with someone from a Weather Forecasting place in Australia and ask about how Climate Change is affecting Australia and ‘What else is predicted in the weather in the near future?’ as my primary source of information. Also I would like to know why is it that not everyone in the flooding area weren’t warned and evacuated beforehand like the people living in the town showing the inequality some people had over others. In order to gain contact with someone from the Weather Bureau I would have to call or email them early and try to set up a suitable way to interview them. I could also try to interview maybe through email victims of the Cyclone or Floods in Australia and compare the damage from someone who was prepared to people who weren’t warned beforehand but this could take some time to do. As well as interviewing as my primary source I would research sites (credible sources) and watch news reports (television) on the damage of the natural disasters in Australia so that I have some knowledge of the topic before I interview my primary sources. I am planning to conduct surveys (pen to paper, facebook and or survey monkey)to get an idea of what people already know about climate change and how it is affecting Australia. This will help me figure out what I should research and ask suitable questions in my interview. During my interview with an expert on weather I hope to use a voice recording or video recording machine to help me. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Obviously I would have to ask for my interviewee's permission and have consent to use the video and or voice recording in my presentation and write up. I would also keep the surveys anonymous so that people can answer seriously. CAPABILITIES: Other than the learning capability my Research Project would be focusing on the citizenship and personal learning capabilities. When researching I would be finding information which would maybe help and or prevent ways in which damage from climate change and or natural disasters would affect citizens. I would also be trying to research into the fairness of warnings and evacuations of all victims in the danger zone when disasters hit. Another capability I would be improving during this research project would be communication since i would be talking to strangers while trying to find out valid information from professionals.
BRAINSTORM:
My hypothesis: Definition of the topic/subject Guiding/ focus questions: 1. In what ways has climate change affected Australia in the last 5 years? 2. What can be done to reduce the damage of natural disasters? 3. Is global warming and climate change the reason for the recurring Natural Disasters in Australia? 4. How different would Australia be in the next 10-20 years if we continue to burn fosil fuels and add to the excess greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? 5. Proposed METHODS: Internet research, Survey/s, Interview. A reason for the choice of research, indicating an appreciation for the significance of the research: The news had a great influence in why I chose this topic. Seeing the damage and how worse climate change and global warming is going to get I wonder how the future would be like if we continue to harm the environment.
Week 4: During Monday's lesson we were to use 'The 5 WHYS' method to brainstorm relevent questions about our topic in which we would research.We had to get in pairs and ask each other why this happens and why that happens to create continuous questions that gets into some sort of detail about the topic.
Huong's Topic: Dangers of the Internet
1. Why is the internet danergous? Because dangerous people like pedophiles and stalkers have access to the internet
2. Why can pedophiles and stalkers access the internet easily? Because you don't need to enclose any identity to access the internet so anyone can access it
3. Why can anyone have access to it? It can be accessed anytime and anywhere and is avaliable to anyone
4. Why is it so avaliable? Because people can use their mobile phones, laptops and internet cafes since technology has inproved so much
5. Why has technology advanced? Because it is convenient to people's busy lifestyles
My topic: Climate change and Global Warming its effects
- Why is there climate change? Because there is an increase in greenhouse gases.
- Why is there an increase of greenhouse gases? Because of the burning of fossil fuels.
- Why do we burn fossil fuels? To get energy.
- Why do we need this energy? For electricity and power.
- Why do we depend so much on it? Because it was a cheap way of gaining power and back then people didn't know it was harming the environment.
Also in the week we were suppose to start creating a concept map and make sure we refine our proposal ready to be graded. Week 5: Ms Woud came into the class and informed us about Zoomerang and Survey Monkey and how to use them to get survey responses. Zoomerang seemed to be the better survey site because it's used by the big brands to can calculate the statistics for you which makes things easier. Online surveys are much more eco-friendly and doesn't take as much time to copy down the results on to the computer. I am hoping to know exactly what I want to research in the topic of climate change and how it is affecting Australia and start to organise an interview and stary a survey soon since I have already signed up for a Zoomerang account.
Also this week I brianstormed possible interviewees and once get contact with someone from the beareu of meterology then I will start to write up some survey questions to ask my primary source of informations.
My first concept map is completed and because I am trying to only focus on the affects of Climate Change and Global warming in Australia I didn't go into much detail on the other parts of the concept map. I wanted to focus on the effects of Climate Change because everyone in Australia gets affected and we have a right to know what happens when disasters hit parts of our country. Anyone can help the victims of the Natural Disasters (which may be occuring often because of Gobal Warming) but for donations and help to be at a national scale everyone should know who, where and why these Natural Disasters are happening. The news and media help with the broadcasting of these disasters but we don't know why these disasters are happening so frequently and there should be ways to reduce or find out solutions to stop the situation. Week 6: This week I am hoping to clarify who I am going to interview and have start a survey which would give me an idea about how much people know about how Climate Change affects us and what some people have already experienced because of disasters that have happened recently. There are many touching and saddening stories in the news recently about the victims of the floods and hurricanes in Queensland and I am hoping to know more about what these disasters leave and how the victims are coping with the damage and loses. I have thought about emailing and trying to get in contact with maybe a victim of the recent floods and compare someone who was ready to someone who had no earlier warning. I would also like to find why natural disasters are repeatedly occuring one after another. Is this normal? Is this unusual? How do we know? there are so many questions I need to ask and I will try to find an expert to ask before I think of my interview questions.
Week 7: Starting from this week we are going to do our discussions. On Tuesday I was spending the lesson fixing up my proposal for moderation also this week for all the Research Project classes in year 12. The proposals are going to get graded according to how well they are written. I haven't got much feedback on my proposal on how to improve it so I just refered to other classmates proposals to write mine and fix it.
Ms McInnes gave me an idea to change my topic from the effects of Climate Change and Global warming in Australia to 'Global warming and how it affects the amount of natural disasters in Australia' because it would be a specific topic instead of researching the effects of Natural disasters. A classmate Minh and I are doing a similar topic about Global Warming and we are going to get contact with someone from the Bureau of Meterology soon since Paul in our class intervewed someone there last year for his year 11 Research Project. If all goes well we will set up an interview in the next week or so when we are both free so that we don't bother the interviewee by going on different days.
My improved Proposal I have worked on in the last few weeks (as I was on a C for my old proposal):
Assessment Type 1: Preliminary Research Proposal
Chosen Topic: Global Warming and how it affects the amount of natural disasters in Australia
The topic I chose to research for my year 12 Research Project is the issue Global warming. I had considered many other topics including dentistry, food and medicine but was more interested in global warming so I decided to stick to it. I then narrowed down the topic and produced a hypothesis ‘Global Warming is causing the increase in Natural Disasters in Australia’.
Recently in the news many reports about cyclone and flood damage in the Eastern side of Australia made me wonder, Is global warming and climate change the reasons for these recurring disasters? Heat waves in the beginning of 2010 and dramatic changes in the weather were occurring all over Australia. There is a possibility that the extreme weather is caused by human activity and the problem could be at much larger scales in the near future.
For primary source of information I will contact an expert from The Bureau of Meteorology in Adelaide and set up a suitable date to interview them. I will also try to interview other experts on global warming and ask questions which would help support or refute my hypothesis. During my interview with experts on my topic I will use a voice recording or video recording machine to help me. I will also conduct surveys (pen to paper, Zoomerang and or survey monkey) as a part of primary source of information.
My secondary sources of information would include researching credible sites and watching news reports to get a better understanding of global warming to find connections to the natural disasters recurring. There could also be books and newspapers to help me support or refute my hypothesis.
I have to gain consent from the expert/s I plan to interview to use the video, voice recording and information I obtain in my final presentation. The surveys would have to be anonymous so that people can answer honestly. The people completing my survey would also have to be informed that I would use the statistics of the survey in my 1500 word report as my presentation method. It would be unethical if I didn’t have their permission. I would also have to make sure I source and or quote every form of information I find and use for my project. This would include quoting and paraphrasing information and I would have to add an in-text and reference the author/s in my bibliography if not it would be considered as plagiarism.
Other than the learning capability my Research Project would be focusing on the citizenship and personal learning capabilities. My topic affects everyone in Australia as I will try to find out if we are causing the increase in natural disasters. The information I collect will allow me to inform others about the global warming situation in Australia. As for my personal learning I would be improving my research skills as well as taking the initiative to get work done on my own and manage my time effectively. I would also be improving my communication skills since I would be talking to experts while trying to find out valid information.
Word count: 536 (including title and topic)
My improved Proposal also involved changing my topic so that my hypothesis could be created. So from the topic: 'Climate change and how it is the affecting Australia' to the topic : 'Global Warming and how it affects the amount of Natural Disasters in Australia'.
My discussion was originally booked for Friday lesson 4 of week 7 but some problems occurred and a blackout caused the computers not to work and there was also a problem with the tape recorders so I had to change my discussion time to the next week or so.
So during this week I have concluded that my hypothesis for my Research Project would be : ‘Global Warming is causing the increase in Natural Disasters in Australia’.
I would have to use guiding questions to support or refute this hypothesis.
Some guiding questions include:
Clarify/understand the topic: 1. What is global warming?
2. What are Natural Disasters?
Statistics and Data: 3. Has there been anything unusal about the pattern of Natural Disasters in Australia compared to 20 years ago?
- If yes how much change?
- If no will there be any unusual changes in the near future?
Expert preditions: 4. What preditctions are made for future weather conditions in Australia?
- natural disasters (predicted)
- weather (temperatures)
- land(shape/area of our country)
5. Approximately when did global warming start to affect Australia's weather pattern?
I have also written survey questions that involve a short quiz but I would have to make sure the information in the quiz is correct before I can try to get it approved my MsMcInnes. I would also have to sign a form that makes sure I will follow ethical considerations and have the people I survey sign an agreement form to use the information I recieve as well as keeping the responses anonymous and confidential. Week 8: During Mondays lesson we got our marked Proposals back. After improving my Proposal and getting some feedback on my first ever proposal I got a B+ grade from a C grade. Minh and I also recived the contact details from Paul to an expert at the Bureau of Meterology so I will email them in the next day or so. Minh will be contacting them through phone to set up a interview date and time since she is more comfortable on the phone. I will be confirming the interview through email and keep in contact in case anything else comes up and the date has to be changed.
Since Minh and my topic is very similar we were told to go discuss the issue with Ms Woud to avoid problems about having the same topic. After telling her the problem she concluded that my research should be focusing on the weather and bio-physical side of Natural Disasters locally to narrow down my topic while Minh will focus on the geo-physical aspect of Natural Disasters where she mostly looks at earthquakes globally. So after the talk with Ms Woud we changed our focus of Natural disasters to different directions to avoid the same topic.
Changes:
So during this week I have concluded that my hypothesis for my Research Project would be : ‘Global Warming is causing the increase in Natural Disasters (bio-physical affects) in Australia’. Some guiding questions include: Clarify/understand the topic: 1. What is global warming?
2. What are Natural Disasters? (focusing on bio-physical which is weather patterns eg, floods, cyclones, storms etc) Statistics and Data: 3. Has there been anything unusal about the pattern of Natural Disasters in Australia compared to 20 years ago?
- If yes how much change?
- If no will there be any unusual changes in the near future? Expert predictions: 4. What predictions are made for future weather conditions in Australia?
- natural disasters (predicted)
- weather (temperatures)
- land(shape/area of our country)
5. Approximately when did global warming start to affect Australia's weather pattern?
In this week I would also need to start answering questions 1 and 2 which rely on secondary sources of information. I will need to do this first before conducting my interview so that I have a solid idea and know what I am actually asking in my hypothesis before I do anything else. I already have a couple of books (although not as recent as I'd hoped) which give some information about my topic and hypothesis. Week 9: This is the last week of assessment so I really have to get my discussion done before the week ends. My scheduled time is Friday lesson 4 where I have a free lesson. After so many setbacks I hope to just do my discussion and keep researching to support or refute my hypothesis. I have started to answer my first 2 questions and finding relevant information with reliable authors.
During the double lesson I went to the library to find secondary sources. I looked at the green Current Environmental Issues booklets containing recent newspaper articles about my topic. There were articles supporting and refuting my hypothesis of 'Global warming is causing the increase in the bio-physical (weather related) Natural Disasters in Australia'. It seems like scientists are contradicting each other about the frequency of weather related natural disasters in Australia although there are also many articles about peoples opinion about the topic. This is also why I am going to conduct a survey to find out people's perceptions about global warming and how it is affecting the frequency of natural disasters.
From my dicussion this week I am starting to understand what is required of me. Ms McInnes advice for me was to email the contact I recieved from Paul very soon so that I have time to do extra research later on. I was also advised to do a joint interview with Minh which was my original plan since it would be easier for the interviewee and during the interview I could also ask for any other references to experts relating to my topic. I am quite satisfied with my dicussion although I was nervous in the beginning and started off stuttering while explaining my topic. I started to settle down once we were chatting about my research method and how I should present my information I collect. After the discussion Ms McInnes helped me find books (Issues in Society) relating to my topic. These were fairly recent but I havent got a chance to borrow them just yet. She also showed me where the 2011 Current Environmental Issues were and I got to photocopy some of the articles in order to help support or refute my hypothesis. Some of the articles were very helpful by giving scentific evidence of the link between global warming and extreme weather conditions. I am now reading through the articles and information I have collected as well as selecting extra credible information by first evaluating them using the CRAP test.
Week 10: I didn't get much done this week but I am still looking through the newspaper articles I gathered last week. Most of them are not as helpful as I thought in the beginning when photocopying them. I am also writing an email to D.Ray who is someone from the Bureau Of Meterology which I recieved the email from Minh's discussion page through Paul (a student who researched about global warming last year for research project 2010) since he is leaving soon.
Week 11: Last week of term 1. Wrote a copy of the email which looks something like this:
To whomever this concerns, Hello my name is Cathy Nguyen I am a student from Woodville High School. I am currently in year 12 and for my Research Project I have chosen the topic ‘Global warming and its effects on the amount of Natural Disasters in Australia’. Focusing on the bio-physical side of weather related natural Disasters. I have created a hypothesis which is ‘Global Warming is causing the increase in weather related Natural Disasters in Australia’. I have started looking for valid information to support or refute my hypothesis. I have some newspaper articles and books about my topic but I am also hoping to conduct an interview with you for expert information about my topic. A fellow classmate Minh Ho is has chosen to research the topic ‘What is triggering the global phenomena of geological disasters?’. We would like to conduct a joint interview sometime during the next week so that we can gain more knowledge about our topics and current statistics if available. If possible, an interview through email would be just as helpful. We would be very grateful for your help. Yours Sincerely, Cathy Nguyen and Minh Ho.
And I am going to get Minh to check it so that she can add anything else she wants. The main purpose of this email is asking for permission to conduct an interview.
Minh helped edit and fix the email and I sent it to D.Ray during the holidays: Everyday of the holidays I had checked my email to see if there was a reply from D.Ray but there was no luck so far.
TERM 2: Week 1: I finally got a reply from Darren Ray which I recieved on the Monday back to school. I can't complain because the holidays was part of the Easter holidays so he would have been busy. This is a print screen of the email:
From this email I found out that my topic was his expertise and he agreed for me to conduct an interview. He also revealed that he was the Senior Meterologist/Manager which means he would be a reliable expert to get information from.
He also included his mobile number and office number so that we can contact him. Minh is planning to give him a call to organise a interview time. We are now a bit behind in terms of research as everything is due by the end of last week but I think the interview would be done next week so I would have to get everything ready while we plan for the interview. This will really test my time management skills as I also have many other assignments in other subjects due this week and tests this and next week.
On Thursday we went to the library to look at books with different topics to help us find a topic we were interested in. There were also pink and green booklets with recent newspaper articles to give us recent topics rather than choosing an old topic with little information. At the moment I am thinking about the topics:
Week 2: During Monday's lesson we were to check out Ebscohost and write 5 summaries for 5 articles relating to the topic/s we were interested in and work on it during the week.
Climate Change is coming to your hip pocket: This article is about the Federal Government creating a one time tax for Australians earning a middle and high income not poor people and the victims of the floods. The tax is to raise $1.8 billion to support the re-building of roads, houses and schools in Queensland where the floods hit recently. This article also mentions the Government gathering $3.8 billion by cutting and postponing other programs and plans which would be donated to the rebuilding of the areas affected by the floods showing that Australians must help each other in time of need.
Wire, i 2011, 'Climate change is coming | to your hip-pocket', Canberra Times, 31 January, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 7 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=22&sid=8b48fd1a-edb4-4141-8c4a-5846de5dc733%40sessionmgr10&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=SYD-5Y5LGGOWQG4CH1UWKIT>
Fruit, Vegetables Prices Rocket- Flood Disaster 2011: As a result of the Queensland Floods, Australia would be experiencing high prioced of vegetables and fruit as Queensland supplies of of our fresh fruit and veggies. The damage of the floods damaged most of the crops causing prices of tomatoes, cauliflower, corn, capsicum and broccoli to rapidly increase and stay high for at least a month. Tomato prices have risen 267 percent while broccoli and cucumbers have increased over 100 percent since December 2010. With this it is expected that fresh food prices in Australia could still be affected in the short term affecting all of us.
JOE, K 2011, 'Fruit, vegetable prices rocket --- 2011 FLOOD DISASTER', Australian, The, p. 6, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 7 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=22&sid=8b48fd1a-edb4-4141-8c4a-5846de5dc733%40sessionmgr10&vid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=201101131006618849>
Floods, Yasi stamp their mark on 2011: The floodwaters killed 33 lives earlier this year. Just 3 weeks later there was a cyclone near Mission beach flattening crops, ripping houses apart and snapping power poles in half. The wind gusts were estimated to be 290km/hr. The last time a cyclone hit Brisbane was in 1918. Cyclone Yasi was the 3rd to hit Queensland this summer out of a predicted 6 which means there could be more heartache and worrying in the near future. The Government after having to gather $192,470,566 for the Disaster Relief Fund was still not enough for the flood victims let alone help the victims of Cyclone Yasi. This will mean more cuts in budgets from the government plans to help the flood and cyclone victims with no homes. This article was written right after the cyclone hit informing us on the damage and death rate from the devastating event.
'Floods, Yasi stamp their mark on 2011', n.d., New Zealand Herald, The, n.d., Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 9 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=9&sid=dfbaeb03-d061-43ab-a1f6-274fd0da6991%40sessionmgr4&vid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=HOB089862307111>
Schools remain closed after Cyclone Yasi: It can be considered lucky to some but not to others that 260 schools and TAFE campuses are closed due to the aftermath of Cyclone Yasi destroying schools and trees which have fallen are making schools not accessible. This goes to shows the impact on people of all ages affected by natural disaters which are possibly caused by global warming and human activity.
'Schools remain closed after Cyclone Yasi' n.d., ABC Premium News, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 9 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=9&sid=dfbaeb03-d061-43ab-a1f6-274fd0da6991%40sessionmgr4&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=P6S241336950611>
Cyclone Yasi provides Northern Territory banana windfall: Banana growers in the Northern Territory are hoping to benefit from the losses of crops after Cyclone Yasi hit Queensland, the main sourcer of fresh fruit and vegetables in Australia. In the past Cyclone Larry caused a rise in prices of bananas again due to loss and destruction of crops. The growers of bananas in the NT are hoping the government won't ease the restrictions of imports from other countries while Queensland is still under repair or let imports from outside Australia replace the stocks lost in Cyclone Yasi. If bananas are imported from the Phillipines for example, it would cause a big problems to the whole industry and growers in Australia.
'Cyclone Yasi provides NT banana windfall' n.d., ABC Premium News, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 9 February 2011, from < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=9&sid=dfbaeb03-d061-43ab-a1f6-274fd0da6991%40sessionmgr4&vid=7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=P6S206213428711 >
Week 3: During Monday's lesson Ms McInnes showed us the site Ergo which shows us the 5 steps of Research Skills : D.L.S.O.P.E. At the moment I am in the definig stage and after my Research Proposal due this week I hope to start on the locating stage and finding information on the topic 'Climate Change and how it is affecting Australia'. Another site she told us to use is <http://dclibrary.edu.glogster.com/evaluating-information/> using the CRAP system:
C= Currency
Is this news/topic recent?
Are there any other sources of information with news that are newer than on this website?
Does the information used in the article seem recent?
Are the statistics (if accessible) new and reliable?
R= Reliability
Can I trust this website?
Is the author of this website/ article someone who can be trusted?
Does the information seem reliable?
Are there any advertismements on the page? (this will show whether the site is just trying to seel a product)
A= Authority
Who is the author?
Is the author of the website someone who is a professional and is credited to give information?
How do I know that the author knows what they are writing?
Is there any form on information on the schooling of the author to show they are an expert?
and P= Purpose
Why was this website/ article written?
Is this information important to my research?
Why did the author write the article?
This is evaluating method would help me in deciding whether the resources and articles I use are suitable and recent in the news. Another site she introduced us to was called Credible Sources Count! which is another referencing check to see whether information from a particular place is reliable and not a hoax. During the rest of the week we were to work on our Research Proposal which would be submitted to inform Ms McInnes about my research topic, why I chose it, how I am going to go about researching (from where and who I am going to get my primary source of information from). So Ms McInnes also talked about the 5W's
- who?
Who am I going to interview?Who am I directing the information I collect to?
- what?
What am I planning to do for the process of my Research?In what ways am I going to collect my information?
- when?
When am I planning to conduct my interview?When will I start my research?
- where?
Where am I going to go to get information for my Project?Where am I going to go to conduct my interview?
Where am I planning to do my surveys? (online or pen to paper)
- why?
Why did I choose to research this topic?What made me want to research this topic more than other topics?
which was what we were going to use to write our Research Proposal.
First Research Proposal:
My Research Proposal
WHAT?:
The topic I have chosen to research about is ‘Climate Change and how it is affecting Australia’. There has been a lot of talk about the recent flood and cyclone in Queensland and I would like to research how these natural disasters have affected the victims as well as everyone else in Australia.
WHY?:
I chose this topic because in the news recently there has been many reports about cyclone and flood damage in the Eastern side of Australia including Queensland and Victoria and has got me thinking… ‘Is this the result of global warming and climate change?’. Thinking about it seriously there has been heat waves in the beginning of last year 2010 and dramatic changes in the weather all over Australia and even the world. There is a possibility that the extreme weather is caused by human activity and the problem could be at much larger scales in the near future. No one can predict the future 100% but to the places where natural disasters may happen there could be a way to reduce the damage to people living in there and may save lives by warning citizens before the damage is done.
The other night I was watching the television show '60 minutes' and there was a story about a young family who lived in Queensland where the floods hit and because no one warned them of the flood they lost their 28 month old daughter and their grandma and grandmother. This shows that a little warning can really saves lives. The report touched me and I hope to research why only the town people in the part of Queensland were warned about the floods and evacuated while others living outside of town were left not knowing what was coming.
WHO?:
My research would be aimed at practically everyone in Australia since the weather affects everyone young and old.
HOW? & WHERE?:
For my research I am hoping to gain contact with someone from a Weather Forecasting place in Australia and ask about how Climate Change is affecting Australia and ‘What else is predicted in the weather in the near future?’ as my primary source of information. Also I would like to know why is it that not everyone in the flooding area weren’t warned and evacuated beforehand like the people living in the town showing the inequality some people had over others. In order to gain contact with someone from the Weather Bureau I would have to call or email them early and try to set up a suitable way to interview them. I could also try to interview maybe through email victims of the Cyclone or Floods in Australia and compare the damage from someone who was prepared to people who weren’t warned beforehand but this could take some time to do. As well as interviewing as my primary source I would research sites (credible sources) and watch news reports (television) on the damage of the natural disasters in Australia so that I have some knowledge of the topic before I interview my primary sources. I am planning to conduct surveys (pen to paper, facebook and or survey monkey)to get an idea of what people already know about climate change and how it is affecting Australia. This will help me figure out what I should research and ask suitable questions in my interview. During my interview with an expert on weather I hope to use a voice recording or video recording machine to help me.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:
Obviously I would have to ask for my interviewee's permission and have consent to use the video and or voice recording in my presentation and write up. I would also keep the surveys anonymous so that people can answer seriously.
CAPABILITIES:
Other than the learning capability my Research Project would be focusing on the citizenship and personal learning capabilities. When researching I would be finding information which would maybe help and or prevent ways in which damage from climate change and or natural disasters would affect citizens. I would also be trying to research into the fairness of warnings and evacuations of all victims in the danger zone when disasters hit. Another capability I would be improving during this research project would be communication since i would be talking to strangers while trying to find out valid information from professionals.
BRAINSTORM:
My hypothesis:
Definition of the topic/subject
Guiding/ focus questions:
1. In what ways has climate change affected Australia in the last 5 years?
2. What can be done to reduce the damage of natural disasters?
3. Is global warming and climate change the reason for the recurring Natural Disasters in Australia?
4. How different would Australia be in the next 10-20 years if we continue to burn fosil fuels and add to the excess greenhouse gases in the atmosphere?
5.
Proposed METHODS:
Internet research, Survey/s, Interview.
A reason for the choice of research, indicating an appreciation for the significance of the research:
The news had a great influence in why I chose this topic. Seeing the damage and how worse climate change and global warming is going to get I wonder how the future would be like if we continue to harm the environment.
Week 4: During Monday's lesson we were to use 'The 5 WHYS' method to brainstorm relevent questions about our topic in which we would research.We had to get in pairs and ask each other why this happens and why that happens to create continuous questions that gets into some sort of detail about the topic.
Huong's Topic: Dangers of the Internet
1. Why is the internet danergous? Because dangerous people like pedophiles and stalkers have access to the internet
2. Why can pedophiles and stalkers access the internet easily? Because you don't need to enclose any identity to access the internet so anyone can access it
3. Why can anyone have access to it? It can be accessed anytime and anywhere and is avaliable to anyone
4. Why is it so avaliable? Because people can use their mobile phones, laptops and internet cafes since technology has inproved so much
5. Why has technology advanced? Because it is convenient to people's busy lifestyles
My topic: Climate change and Global Warming its effects
- Why is there climate change? Because there is an increase in greenhouse gases.
- Why is there an increase of greenhouse gases? Because of the burning of fossil fuels.
- Why do we burn fossil fuels? To get energy.
- Why do we need this energy? For electricity and power.
- Why do we depend so much on it? Because it was a cheap way of gaining power and back then people didn't know it was harming the environment.
Also in the week we were suppose to start creating a concept map and make sure we refine our proposal ready to be graded.
Week 5: Ms Woud came into the class and informed us about Zoomerang and Survey Monkey and how to use them to get survey responses. Zoomerang seemed to be the better survey site because it's used by the big brands to can calculate the statistics for you which makes things easier. Online surveys are much more eco-friendly and doesn't take as much time to copy down the results on to the computer. I am hoping to know exactly what I want to research in the topic of climate change and how it is affecting Australia and start to organise an interview and stary a survey soon since I have already signed up for a Zoomerang account.
Also this week I brianstormed possible interviewees and once get contact with someone from the beareu of meterology then I will start to write up some survey questions to ask my primary source of informations.
My first concept map is completed and because I am trying to only focus on the affects of Climate Change and Global warming in Australia I didn't go into much detail on the other parts of the concept map. I wanted to focus on the effects of Climate Change because everyone in Australia gets affected and we have a right to know what happens when disasters hit parts of our country. Anyone can help the victims of the Natural Disasters (which may be occuring often because of Gobal Warming) but for donations and help to be at a national scale everyone should know who, where and why these Natural Disasters are happening. The news and media help with the broadcasting of these disasters but we don't know why these disasters are happening so frequently and there should be ways to reduce or find out solutions to stop the situation.
Week 6: This week I am hoping to clarify who I am going to interview and have start a survey which would give me an idea about how much people know about how Climate Change affects us and what some people have already experienced because of disasters that have happened recently. There are many touching and saddening stories in the news recently about the victims of the floods and hurricanes in Queensland and I am hoping to know more about what these disasters leave and how the victims are coping with the damage and loses. I have thought about emailing and trying to get in contact with maybe a victim of the recent floods and compare someone who was ready to someone who had no earlier warning. I would also like to find why natural disasters are repeatedly occuring one after another. Is this normal? Is this unusual? How do we know? there are so many questions I need to ask and I will try to find an expert to ask before I think of my interview questions.
Week 7: Starting from this week we are going to do our discussions. On Tuesday I was spending the lesson fixing up my proposal for moderation also this week for all the Research Project classes in year 12. The proposals are going to get graded according to how well they are written. I haven't got much feedback on my proposal on how to improve it so I just refered to other classmates proposals to write mine and fix it.
Ms McInnes gave me an idea to change my topic from the effects of Climate Change and Global warming in Australia to 'Global warming and how it affects the amount of natural disasters in Australia' because it would be a specific topic instead of researching the effects of Natural disasters. A classmate Minh and I are doing a similar topic about Global Warming and we are going to get contact with someone from the Bureau of Meterology soon since Paul in our class intervewed someone there last year for his year 11 Research Project. If all goes well we will set up an interview in the next week or so when we are both free so that we don't bother the interviewee by going on different days.
My improved Proposal I have worked on in the last few weeks (as I was on a C for my old proposal):
Assessment Type 1: Preliminary Research Proposal
Chosen Topic: Global Warming and how it affects the amount of natural disasters in Australia
The topic I chose to research for my year 12 Research Project is the issue Global warming. I had considered many other topics including dentistry, food and medicine but was more interested in global warming so I decided to stick to it. I then narrowed down the topic and produced a hypothesis ‘Global Warming is causing the increase in Natural Disasters in Australia’.
Recently in the news many reports about cyclone and flood damage in the Eastern side of Australia made me wonder, Is global warming and climate change the reasons for these recurring disasters? Heat waves in the beginning of 2010 and dramatic changes in the weather were occurring all over Australia. There is a possibility that the extreme weather is caused by human activity and the problem could be at much larger scales in the near future.
For primary source of information I will contact an expert from The Bureau of Meteorology in Adelaide and set up a suitable date to interview them. I will also try to interview other experts on global warming and ask questions which would help support or refute my hypothesis. During my interview with experts on my topic I will use a voice recording or video recording machine to help me. I will also conduct surveys (pen to paper, Zoomerang and or survey monkey) as a part of primary source of information.
My secondary sources of information would include researching credible sites and watching news reports to get a better understanding of global warming to find connections to the natural disasters recurring. There could also be books and newspapers to help me support or refute my hypothesis.
I have to gain consent from the expert/s I plan to interview to use the video, voice recording and information I obtain in my final presentation. The surveys would have to be anonymous so that people can answer honestly. The people completing my survey would also have to be informed that I would use the statistics of the survey in my 1500 word report as my presentation method. It would be unethical if I didn’t have their permission. I would also have to make sure I source and or quote every form of information I find and use for my project. This would include quoting and paraphrasing information and I would have to add an in-text and reference the author/s in my bibliography if not it would be considered as plagiarism.
Other than the learning capability my Research Project would be focusing on the citizenship and personal learning capabilities. My topic affects everyone in Australia as I will try to find out if we are causing the increase in natural disasters. The information I collect will allow me to inform others about the global warming situation in Australia. As for my personal learning I would be improving my research skills as well as taking the initiative to get work done on my own and manage my time effectively. I would also be improving my communication skills since I would be talking to experts while trying to find out valid information.
Word count: 536 (including title and topic)
My improved Proposal also involved changing my topic so that my hypothesis could be created. So from the topic: 'Climate change and how it is the affecting Australia' to the topic : 'Global Warming and how it affects the amount of Natural Disasters in Australia'.
My discussion was originally booked for Friday lesson 4 of week 7 but some problems occurred and a blackout caused the computers not to work and there was also a problem with the tape recorders so I had to change my discussion time to the next week or so.
So during this week I have concluded that my hypothesis for my Research Project would be : ‘Global Warming is causing the increase in Natural Disasters in Australia’.
I would have to use guiding questions to support or refute this hypothesis.
Some guiding questions include:
Clarify/understand the topic: 1. What is global warming?
2. What are Natural Disasters?
Statistics and Data: 3. Has there been anything unusal about the pattern of Natural Disasters in Australia compared to 20 years ago?
- If yes how much change?
- If no will there be any unusual changes in the near future?
Expert preditions: 4. What preditctions are made for future weather conditions in Australia?
- natural disasters (predicted)
- weather (temperatures)
- land(shape/area of our country)
5. Approximately when did global warming start to affect Australia's weather pattern?
I have also written survey questions that involve a short quiz but I would have to make sure the information in the quiz is correct before I can try to get it approved my MsMcInnes. I would also have to sign a form that makes sure I will follow ethical considerations and have the people I survey sign an agreement form to use the information I recieve as well as keeping the responses anonymous and confidential.
Week 8: During Mondays lesson we got our marked Proposals back. After improving my Proposal and getting some feedback on my first ever proposal I got a B+ grade from a C grade. Minh and I also recived the contact details from Paul to an expert at the Bureau of Meterology so I will email them in the next day or so. Minh will be contacting them through phone to set up a interview date and time since she is more comfortable on the phone. I will be confirming the interview through email and keep in contact in case anything else comes up and the date has to be changed.
Since Minh and my topic is very similar we were told to go discuss the issue with Ms Woud to avoid problems about having the same topic. After telling her the problem she concluded that my research should be focusing on the weather and bio-physical side of Natural Disasters locally to narrow down my topic while Minh will focus on the geo-physical aspect of Natural Disasters where she mostly looks at earthquakes globally. So after the talk with Ms Woud we changed our focus of Natural disasters to different directions to avoid the same topic.
Changes:
So during this week I have concluded that my hypothesis for my Research Project would be : ‘Global Warming is causing the increase in Natural Disasters (bio-physical affects) in Australia’.
Some guiding questions include:
Clarify/understand the topic: 1. What is global warming?
2. What are Natural Disasters? (focusing on bio-physical which is weather patterns eg, floods, cyclones, storms etc)
Statistics and Data: 3. Has there been anything unusal about the pattern of Natural Disasters in Australia compared to 20 years ago?
- If yes how much change?
- If no will there be any unusual changes in the near future?
Expert predictions: 4. What predictions are made for future weather conditions in Australia?
- natural disasters (predicted)
- weather (temperatures)
- land(shape/area of our country)
5. Approximately when did global warming start to affect Australia's weather pattern?
In this week I would also need to start answering questions 1 and 2 which rely on secondary sources of information. I will need to do this first before conducting my interview so that I have a solid idea and know what I am actually asking in my hypothesis before I do anything else. I already have a couple of books (although not as recent as I'd hoped) which give some information about my topic and hypothesis.
Week 9: This is the last week of assessment so I really have to get my discussion done before the week ends. My scheduled time is Friday lesson 4 where I have a free lesson. After so many setbacks I hope to just do my discussion and keep researching to support or refute my hypothesis. I have started to answer my first 2 questions and finding relevant information with reliable authors.
During the double lesson I went to the library to find secondary sources. I looked at the green Current Environmental Issues booklets containing recent newspaper articles about my topic. There were articles supporting and refuting my hypothesis of 'Global warming is causing the increase in the bio-physical (weather related) Natural Disasters in Australia'. It seems like scientists are contradicting each other about the frequency of weather related natural disasters in Australia although there are also many articles about peoples opinion about the topic. This is also why I am going to conduct a survey to find out people's perceptions about global warming and how it is affecting the frequency of natural disasters.
From my dicussion this week I am starting to understand what is required of me. Ms McInnes advice for me was to email the contact I recieved from Paul very soon so that I have time to do extra research later on. I was also advised to do a joint interview with Minh which was my original plan since it would be easier for the interviewee and during the interview I could also ask for any other references to experts relating to my topic. I am quite satisfied with my dicussion although I was nervous in the beginning and started off stuttering while explaining my topic. I started to settle down once we were chatting about my research method and how I should present my information I collect. After the discussion Ms McInnes helped me find books (Issues in Society) relating to my topic. These were fairly recent but I havent got a chance to borrow them just yet. She also showed me where the 2011 Current Environmental Issues were and I got to photocopy some of the articles in order to help support or refute my hypothesis. Some of the articles were very helpful by giving scentific evidence of the link between global warming and extreme weather conditions. I am now reading through the articles and information I have collected as well as selecting extra credible information by first evaluating them using the CRAP test.
Week 10: I didn't get much done this week but I am still looking through the newspaper articles I gathered last week. Most of them are not as helpful as I thought in the beginning when photocopying them. I am also writing an email to D.Ray who is someone from the Bureau Of Meterology which I recieved the email from Minh's discussion page through Paul (a student who researched about global warming last year for research project 2010) since he is leaving soon.
Week 11: Last week of term 1. Wrote a copy of the email which looks something like this:
To whomever this concerns,
Hello my name is Cathy Nguyen I am a student from Woodville High School. I am currently in year 12 and for my Research Project I have chosen the topic ‘Global warming and its effects on the amount of Natural Disasters in Australia’. Focusing on the bio-physical side of weather related natural Disasters.
I have created a hypothesis which is ‘Global Warming is causing the increase in weather related Natural Disasters in Australia’.
I have started looking for valid information to support or refute my hypothesis. I have some newspaper articles and books about my topic but I am also hoping to conduct an interview with you for expert information about my topic.
A fellow classmate Minh Ho is has chosen to research the topic ‘What is triggering the global phenomena of geological disasters?’. We would like to conduct a joint interview sometime during the next week so that we can gain more knowledge about our topics and current statistics if available. If possible, an interview through email would be just as helpful. We would be very grateful for your help.
Yours Sincerely, Cathy Nguyen and Minh Ho.
Email received from Minh Ho’s discussion page on wiki space:
**paulk-s**
D.Ray@bom.gov.au
And I am going to get Minh to check it so that she can add anything else she wants. The main purpose of this email is asking for permission to conduct an interview.
Minh helped edit and fix the email and I sent it to D.Ray during the holidays:
Everyday of the holidays I had checked my email to see if there was a reply from D.Ray but there was no luck so far.
TERM 2:
Week 1: I finally got a reply from Darren Ray which I recieved on the Monday back to school. I can't complain because the holidays was part of the Easter holidays so he would have been busy. This is a print screen of the email:
From this email I found out that my topic was his expertise and he agreed for me to conduct an interview. He also revealed that he was the Senior Meterologist/Manager which means he would be a reliable expert to get information from.
He also included his mobile number and office number so that we can contact him. Minh is planning to give him a call to organise a interview time. We are now a bit behind in terms of research as everything is due by the end of last week but I think the interview would be done next week so I would have to get everything ready while we plan for the interview. This will really test my time management skills as I also have many other assignments in other subjects due this week and tests this and next week.
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